1. Systems, Stories, Sharing Dwarf Fortress gathers at the statue and throws a party "Far, far below the deepest delvings of the dwarves, the world is gnawed by nameless things" - Gandalf the Grey
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4. Fractal Interior Design Functional Irrigation Engineering Digital re-creations of Analog Computers Anarchic, anti-aristocratic, labor-run communes The game's simulations are deep enough to allow for:
7. Procedural Narrative Created by means of mathematical algorithms, in this case computer code for now, let's say story-telling (hypen for emphasis)
8. Wha-? Generates A World -> Fills it with Stuff and Things -> Simulates a few thousand years -> Gives you a bunch of dwarves with personalities, tastes, friendships and drives ---> Besets them with nasties, insanities, triumphs and lots and lots of ... Code...
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Editor's Notes
i am here to talk about my thesis, which is shaping up to talk about Dwarf Fortress, a completely bonkers indie game for PCs that was originally released 2 years ago, and continues to be updated + played today. I'm interested in this game for lots of reasons, but what I'm looking to write about is how this game and its community of players have embraced both simulation and story-telling